WASHINGTON, June 29, (AP): A minivan slammed into a Long Island nail salon Friday, killing four and injuring nine people inside the business at the time, a Suffolk County fire official said.
The vehicle came to a stop at the back of the Hawaii Nail & Spa store in Deer Park about 4:40 pm.
"There were people trapped," assistant Chief Dominic Albanese of the Deer Park Fire Department told reporters at the scene. "We extricated them and transported them to area hospitals.”
The driver was semiconscious and taken to a hospital, Albanese said.
It was not immediately clear whether the crash was accidental or intentional, officials said. Suffolk County Police Department major case unit detectives were investigating, a police spokesperson said.
Photos from the scene showed a gaping hole in the storefront, which is in a strip mall.
Eric Perez told Newsday he was loading groceries into his car across from the accident scene when he heard a speeding car and then a noise that "sounded like shattering.”
"It was a sound that I never heard before,” he said.
As he and his wife were leaving the parking lot, he said, he saw emergency crews removing victims from the scene.
"We saw the ambulance and emergency workers pulling one body out,” he said. "And I saw two women I think worked there come out on stretchers.”
About 150 firefighters and medical personnel responded to the crash, Albanese said.
"It’s horrible. It’s going to be tough for the community, tough for the volunteer fire department,” he said. "But we’re going to get through it.”